Do you own a Hi-Def TV?

[HaloGirl]

Well, we found out some exciting news last night. My husband finally hooked up the HD Tivo, and it turns out that it can read both the cable and antenna signals (we bought a cheap antenna just to see what we can get over the air). So we now have three viewing options:

1) Drop cable, and go strictly over the air. We save $10/mo. but lose channels we like, such as WGN and FX. If we do this, we'll probably get a more expensive antenna to try to pull in digital signals from farther away (thus increasing the variety of channels).

2) Sign up for digital cable. We'll get a bazillion beautiful channels but increase our TV budget by about $60/mo.

3) Keep our dirt-cheap cable and the new antenna. We'd continue to get the handful of cable channels we like (as well as keep other old TVs working in the house), but they'll be analog signals, which will look worse and worse the more we get used to over-the-air digital. Oh, and there is a slight time delay when switching from analog to digital, which is annoying while channel surfing.

If it weren't for the expense, we'd go with Option 2, hands down. I'm guessing we'll end up with Option 3.

[Matt]

HD tivo won't work too well with time warner's cable box.
Though TW has a DVR that (i feel) works better than Tivo (and it's only $10/mo)

I love Digital cable... there are nearly 50 HD channels and they are free.

[HaloGirl]

Though TW has a DVR that (i feel) works better than Tivo

What do you think is better about it?

there are nearly 50 HD channels and they are free.

... only if you're already paying for regular cable.

[Matt]

That it's not an additional box.
Tivo has a ton more features and a much better search, but having to pay for a box and then pay a high monthly fee and not have it perfectly compatible with digital cable-- that's a formula that will run them into the ground in a few years.

A Tivo hd is 300 just to buy the hardware. That's for the cheapest model. Then, if you don't want to use the phone line and don't have an internet jack nearby, it $50 for the wireless adapter.

The cable company will charge you $10 to $12/mo and fix or upgrade the box whenever you want. You'll get 30 months of the cable version before you make up the purchase price of the TIVO box alone. I'm not including the cost of the cable service itself. But you so get a ton of channels besides the HD ones.

[Bill_K]

I have the TW 3 in one service...phone, internet and cable and I love the convenience of having just one bill I can easily pay online. And the free HD is a plus.

[HaloGirl]

We got our original analog Tivo box free last year (just had to pay the subscription, about $11/mo.), and we fell in love with how it works. My husband connected it to our network, so we can view photos and listen to music from our computers on our TV. We use the Tivo suggestions feature regularly, and is one of the reasons we prefer Tivo to a regular DVR. We got our new Tivo HD for $200 with our new TV purchase. Yes, there is an upfront cost, but we feel it is worth it over the cable DVR.

According to my husband, the only remaining incompatibility between Tivo and TW cable is pay-per-view and video-on-demand, but we don't use these much and can get similar things from Tivo. The monthly Tivo subscription isn't much more than the cable DVR, so that's another reason why we decided to stick with Tivo.

We have a cable modem with Time Warner and our super-basic cable TV subscription. We both use cell phones exclusively (and don't have kids to worry about), so we have no reason to have a landline phone to bundle up with the other services.

[Kelly]

I have no idea what y'all are talkin' about.

[Matt]

if you are used to tivo, stick with it. the Interface is light years ahead of the cable one (but the cable companies can change theirs overnight. The tivo HD will need a cable card (additional monthly cost) or it'll have to use the cable box controller- which means the remove will be a little unresponsive, but yeah it'll work.

[HaloGirl]

The tivo HD will need a cable card (additional monthly cost)

Yeah, we know about that.

I have no idea what y'all are talkin' about.

Don't worry about it. My husband knows way more than I do. I keep asking him for information so that I can sound informed here.

[Matt]

Once you get Discovery HD Theater, you will be glad you signed up for cable. When we first got it that's all we watched.

[HaloGirl]

So what a disappointment to get a hi-def TV and then find out that some of the local stations aren't transmitting in surround sound. Now we have a beautiful picture but mediocre sound.

At first we thought our sound wasn't hooked up right, but then I watched 24 on Fox, and it sounded as good as it looked. On the other hand, the Super Bowl (NBC) and Lost (ABC) had really flat sound. In fact, ABC is really terrible. Lost was so quiet that we turned the volume way up, only to be blasted out when the commercials came on.

[Matt]

Lost this past week has terrible sound. I'm hoping a setting was off. It's not usually like that. But yes, Wham13 does not broadcast in surround.
Fox does!

[Matt]

A warning about those off-brands (AOC, Apex, Coby, Digital Lifestyle, Dynex, Element, TruTech, Viore and Vizio)
http://hdguru.com/is-the-hdtv-you-buy-r ... asset/418/

[HaloGirl]

We've been considering a Vizio for our bedroom because Consumer Reports likes them. I forwarded your link to my husband to see if it changes his mind any.

[Matt]

If you plan on mounting it on a wall, Vizio may end up being a huge pain in the ass... or so says our home electronics installer. What Consumer Reports says should be taken with a grain of salt. They usually tend to ignore things they can't test and when they test models, they test one functioning model, not multiple items of the same model. So their results aren't statistically significant.

[HaloGirl]

The TV in our bedroom would go in a wardrobe (not on the wall). We'll probably end up getting a TV at Best Buy (which doesn't even carry Vizio) because we have a lot of points to use.

[Bill_K]

I bought myself a Blu-ray player for Christmas and after hooking it up to my 32" HDTV I wasn't happy so, I had to go out and upgrade to a 42" HDTV. Now I am considering a Bose surround sound to round out the package. Damn I hate Christmas. It always cost me so much money.

[hobkyl]

Still rocking a tube tv no HD.

[HaloGirl]

I bought myself a Blu-ray player for Christmas and after hooking it up to my 32" HDTV I wasn't happy so, I had to go out and upgrade to a 42" HDTV. Now I am considering a Bose surround sound to round out the package. Damn I hate Christmas. It always cost me so much money.

We bought two TVs this year (big one for living room, "smaller" 40" TV for the bedroom). When we were talking about Christmas lists, I said we should ask for Blu-rays since we'd probably get a player before too long. My husband took that as an order to buy one. But in buying a Blu-ray, he had to upgrade our receiver. Next year, we'll probably get new speakers. It just never ends, does it?

[Bill_K]

I bought myself a Blu-ray player for Christmas and after hooking it up to my 32" HDTV I wasn't happy so, I had to go out and upgrade to a 42" HDTV. Now I am considering a Bose surround sound to round out the package. Damn I hate Christmas. It always cost me so much money.

We bought two TVs this year (big one for living room, "smaller" 40" TV for the bedroom). When we were talking about Christmas lists, I said we should ask for Blu-rays since we'd probably get a player before too long. My husband took that as an order to buy one. But in buying a Blu-ray, he had to upgrade our receiver. Next year, we'll probably get new speakers. It just never ends, does it?

I did go and buy the Bose 3.2.1 sound system therefore, I'm done for awhile. I've been buying the previewed blu-rays from Blockbusters...2 for $25. Also I upgraded my Netflix to order Blu-rays.